Improvement in scythe-fastenings



A. BOYDEN.

Scythe Fastening.

Patented Oct. 25', 1864.

[haak/Zor- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.y

ALEXANDER BOYDEN, OF EAST FOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT vIN SCYTHE-FASTENINGS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 44,780, dated October 25, 1864.

To all whom it may concern: y

Be it known that I, ALEXANDER BoYDEN, a resident of East Foxborough, in the county of Norfolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Scythe-Blade and Snath Attachment; and I do hereby declare the same to be fully described in the following specification and represented in the accompanying drawings, of which- Figure l is a top view, Fig. V2 a side elevation, Fig. 3 a longitudinal section, and Fig. 4 a transverse section, of it.

The nature of my invention consists in the combination of a movable bearer or wedgeplate or its equivalent with the snath-holder and certain confining or clamping devices, as hereinafter specified; also,in the combination ot' an adjuster (made as hereinafter explained) and certain ribs or their mechanical equivalents with the snath holder and its clam p, and the screws and nuts thereof or their mechanical equivalent, the said holder being provided with a slot for reception of one of the screws of the clamp, and arranged transversely within the holder, as hereinafter described.

The purpose,of my invention is to confine the blade and snath of a scythe together without the usual tang or shank with which scytheblades are generally provided, the blade of my improvement having no such tang or shank, but being constructed as shown in top view in Fig. 5 and in rear end view in Fig. 6.

In the said drawings, A denotes the snathholder, which is a flat plate, a, provided with a snath clasp or socket,.b, and two parallel ribs, c c, such being arranged as represented. It is intended that the scythe-snath shall be inserted in and fastened into the socket, and so that the platea may project beyond the end of the snath. Fig. 7 denotes a rear end view of the snath-holder.

Directly underneath the snath-holder, and between it and the clamp B, there is a wedge or plate, C, having a wedge, d, extending downward from it. This wedge is intended to enter the groove e of the upper surface of the scytheblade,yand by so doing it will operate to preserve the clamped part ofthe blade from being crushed or bent out of shape by the pressure of the clamp B, such clamp being formed as shown in Fig. 2, and having two screws, fg, which go through the wedge-plate G, and also through the plate c ofthe snathholder and receive screw-nuts 7L i.

The Scythe-blade S is to be inserted between the clamp B and the wedged plate G, and may be confined in place between them and to the snath-holder by means of the clamp B andits screws and nuts.

' The plate a of the snath-holder is provided with a round hole, It', for reception ofthe screw g, and it also has a slot, t', made transversely in it for reception of the screw f, and to enable the said screwf to be moved laterally within such slot, in order that the clamp B and the wedged plate C may be turned conjointly with the screw g as a center, and so as to vary the angle of the blade and the snath. For varying such angle, and for fixing the blade y in one or more offour angular positions, I make use of the adjuster D, which consists ofa square plate of metal having a round hole, 7c, arranged through it eccentrically, as shown in Fig. 8. The said adjuster has each of its edges of a length equal to the distance between the two ribs c c of the socket-plate a.

The arrangement of the hole 7c with reference to the four sides m no p ot' the adjuster may be as follows-th at is to say, the distance between the hole k and the siden is greater than the distance ofthe hole from the side m by a distance, a q. The distance of the hole lo from the side o is greater than the distance of the said hole t' from the side m by a distance, r o, which is equal to three times the distance a q; and, furthermore, the distance of the hole k from the side p is greater than the distance of the hole k from the side on by a distance, s p, which equals twice n q. Under these circumstances, each quarter-revolution of the adjuster on the screw f will, on restoration of the adjuster to its place between and against the ribs c c, vary the lateral position of the-hole 7c, and consequently that of -the screwf. ln this way the angle of the blade and the snath may be changed, the adjuster and the ribs operating with the nut of the screw to maintain the blade and snath in their proper angular positions.

lThe wedge or wedged plate C is useful in other respects than that hereinbefore mentioned. Fig. 9 denotes a top view of such wedge-plate C, while Fig. 10 is a top view of the clamp B.

l claim as my invention- 1. The combination of the movable bearer or wedgedlplate C or its equivalent with the holder A having a slot', z', made in it, in mansnath-holder A and the confining-clamp B ner `@md for the purpose as hereinbefore speoithereof. fied.

2. The combination of the adjuster D und. the ribs c c, or their mechanical equivalents, ALEXANDER BOYDEN with the snath-holder A und :its clamp B, pros Witnesses: vided With screws and nuts, and applied to R. H. EDDY7 such holder, substantially as specified, the said F. P. HALE, Jr. 

